Today was my first 12 hour day at Barrow without spotting a single dolphin, turtle, whale, or dugong…no marine fauna what so ever (well except the millions of bait fish that hide below the hull, and the tuna and sharks that relentlessly chase them from the shadows). All day staring at the ocean without a purpose. Western Australian humpbacks are still somewhere in the Southern Ocean, possibly along the Antarctic ice sheet, gorging on krill. The Flatback Turtles that were nesting in the thousands a few months back all around the island have finished their breeding cycle are have disserted the near shore shelf and are back out to sea also gorging themselves. Dugongs are always around, but never in large numbers and are difficult to spot in any sort of wind chop.
So as usual I’ve reverted to watching the birds. An osprey (a type of marine fishing bird of prey) landed atop the crane tower on the Taurus. It held its regal posture for several minutes, scanning the ocean below with its sensitive golden yellow eyes. The Taurus however is a noisy ship, and the crashing sound of the moving spud startled the bird from its post; revealing that it had already finished hunting and was clutching a large needle fish in its razor sharp talons (“Do the chickens have large talons?”). A nice treat for an otherwise extremely lack luster day. Not a bad sunset either.
Today was my first 12 hour day at Barrow without spotting a single dolphin, turtle, whale, or dugong…no marine fauna what so ever (well except the millions of bait fish that hide below the hull, and the tuna and sharks that relentlessly chase them from the shadows). All day staring at the ocean without a purpose. Western Australian humpbacks are still somewhere in the Southern Ocean, possibly along the Antarctic ice sheet, gorging on krill. The Flatback Turtles that were nesting in the thousands a few months back all around the island have finished their breeding cycle are have disserted the near shore shelf and are back out to sea also gorging themselves. Dugongs are always around, but never in large numbers and are difficult to spot in any sort of wind chop. 
So as usual I’ve reverted to watching the birds. An osprey (a type of marine fishing bird of prey) landed atop the crane tower on the Taurus. It held its regal posture for several minutes, scanning the ocean below with its sensitive golden yellow eyes. The Taurus however is a noisy ship, and the crashing sound of the moving spud startled the bird from its post; revealing that it had already finished hunting and was clutching a large needle fish in its razor sharp talons (“Do the chickens have large talons?”). A nice treat for an otherwise extremely lack luster day. Not a bad sunset either. 
Hi, it's your #1 fan....beautiful pictures of the osprey and sunset. I'm sure you were ready for some shuteye after the long shift. The name of that author is Clive Cussler. I think that's the correct spelling of his name.
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